Christmas Loot.

Hi everyone,


I hope you have all add a fantastic Christmas. We have had a slightly poorly one, as both my husband and myself went down with colds, however we tried not to let it spoil our enjoyment.

We spent Christmas Eve at my parent's new home with my brother and his wife and children. We had a lovely Christmas Day and Boxing Day at home, just us and the kids. We had decided to have a quiet Christmas after the year we have had and it seemed the best thing to do. We now have people visiting us every day until New Years Day, so I will be really busy up until then.

I was desperate to show you my Christmas loot, as I received 20 books for Christmas, each individually wrapped. Hubby had bought me 37 presents to open, that sounds mad, but a lot of them were little presents. He did really well and picked some fabulous bits for me.


Here are the lovely books I got for Christmas.

1) The Declaration by Gemma Malley. I purchased the second book in this series before I went on holiday and didn't realise there was a book before it. Don't you hate it when books don't tell you that they are part of a series?

2) The Lost Book of Salem by Katherine Howe. This book deals with the Salem witch trials.

3) A Great And Terrible Beauty by Libby Bray - another book where I picked up the second book in the series without realising there was a first.

4) Lament by Maggie Steifvater - I loved Shiver, so I was desperate to read Steifvater's other books. This one is about faeries.

5)Ballad by Maggie Steifvater - the sequel to Lament.

6) The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber.


7)The Seance by John Harwood. I have just started to read this Victorian mystery and I have to say I love it.

8) Daddy Long Legs and Dear Enemy by Jean Webster - this book was the hit of the holidays. I have wanted this one since I was a child. I have read it a few times through the years, but I have never had my own copy.


9) Boneshaker by Cherie Priest - my first Steampunk book.


10) Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston


11) The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachen.


12) The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barberry


13) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. I have been wanting to read this one since the RIP challenge, as everyone kept telling me how good it is.


14) The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. All first five books in one bound copy. Yay! I love Holly Black and really enjoyed Tithe and Valiant this year.


15) Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink


16) The Book of Tomorrow by Cecilia Aherne


17) Ruined by Paula Morris


18) The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters


19) The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt.


20) The Writers' and Artists' Year Book 2010.


The thin book on the top is a crochet book with lots of easy steps as I am still learning how to do it.

Hubby also found me lots of cupcakes goodies as he know my love of all things cupcake!

Our dog had a ball on Christmas Day as he had spent all week taking the presents from under the tree and attempting to open them. Finally, he could open them on Christmas Day and he ripped the paper off without anyone helping him.

One of the biggest hits in our house on Christmas Day was the air hockey table that Santa brought for the girls. I can't get them off it, though we have had to move it into the conservatory now as it is so noisy and I couldn't hear the telly.

So that is our Christmas wrapped up. We have a really busy week with lots of visitors, so I may not get on here everyday. I hope to post all the challenges I plan to join next year as well as my best books of the year this week. I will try and get round to everyone as much as possible this week, but normal blogging services will resume next week.

Happy New Year to you all.